By no means was it warm in the city of Boston on Feb. 3, but apparently nobody in Conte Forum told Boston College player Jared Dudley because he was red-hot.

Dudley, a junior forward, led all scorers with 30 points, and in doing so, drove his team to a decisive 80-59 victory over the 16-ranked Hokies of Virginia Tech. This was Dudley’s second 30-point game of the season, which combined with 13 rebounds, gave him his eighth double-double of the season.

Not to be overshadowed was the performance of emerging point-guard Tyrese Rice, who added 20 points (4-10 3-pt shooting) to go along with his game-high eight assists. As a sophomore, Rice is leading the ACC at 6.18 assists per game, and is also fifth in Assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.79

This game was certainly the Dudley and Rice Show, with the two scoring more than half of the team’s 80 points. Senior guard Sean Marshall added 10 points and young forward Shamari Spears added eight points in his 23 minutes of playing time.

Starting off with an impressive 10-1 run, the Eagles never looked back, at times building their lead up to 23 points prior to the half utilizing offensive rebounds to score second-chance points, demoralizing the nationally-ranked Hokies early and often.

Starting the second half with a 21-point lead, BC came out sluggish and the Hokies cut the Eagle’s lead to 14 points, utilizing a full-court trap and aggressive man defense. But that was as close as they would get.

Jared Dudley picked up his third personal foul with about seven minutes left in the first half, bringing him to the bench for the remainder. Re-emerging with a vengeance in the second half, Dudley scored off offensive rebounds, power baseline dribble-drives, mid-range jumpers, and from the outside as well, where he buried four of five three-pointers, sinking the Hokies deeper with each swish of the net.

As a senior, this is Jared Dudley’s last chance to make a run into late March and cement a name for himself not only in the 2007 draft class, but also in the Boston College history books. This season, Dudley is making a legitimate push for ACC Player of the Year honors, leading the conference in points (18.9 points per game), registering second in rebounds (8.9 rebounds per game) and offensive rebounds (3.32 per game), fourth in field goal percentage (.577) and first in minutes per game at more than 38 minutes.

If Dudley were playing for Duke, UNC or any other Prime-time Division I program, he would be one of the most talked about athletes in NCAA basketball right now. Fortunate for Eagles fans, he chose the frigid nether-regions of Boston, a city not known for its love of collegiate-level sports. Fortunate for us, unfortunate for whomever his opponent du jour is.

The Eagles’ schedule does not become easier as the season progresses. The Eagles have games against four ranked opponents left on their schedule, along with tough inter-conference games on the road against Georgia Tech and Florida State. The two toughest games will come the week of Valentine’s Day (eat your heart out Cupid), when the Eagles clash with tenth ranked Duke and third ranked UNC on their home court, both huge games with the top-spot in the ACC presumably at stake.

Currently the Eagles are tied for first place with Virginia at 7-2, a team whom they have already defeated this season. The conference title will not come down to BC and Virginia however, but between the Eagles and the perennial top-dogs from Tobacco Road, the Blue Devils of Duke and the Tar Heels of North Carolina.

The Eagles have seven games remaining on their schedule, four of them on their home court where their record is a stellar 13-2. The Feb. 3 game marked only the third time in team history that the Eagles had worn their alternative gold home jerseys and at this rate, it looks like the Eagles will wear these jerseys out around the time of the next Ice Age.